Slow Pitch Softball at the Iowa Supreme Court

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Benjamin Clark

The Iowa Supreme Court released an opinion today in Feld v. Borkowski.  The case centers around a slow-pitch softball practice, where the players were taking batting practice.  The batter, Borkowski, was a right handed hitter.  On this particular pitch, Borkowski swung too early, fouling the ball high and foul over the left field line.  However, during some part of his swing, Borkowski released the bat, sending it flying....down the right field line, where it struck the first baseman, Feld, in the forehead causing serious damage.  This is not a normal flight pattern for a released bat.

The issue for the Court was to first determine whether softball is a contact sport.  If it is a contact sport, the batter is liable if his conduct was reckless or intentional.  If softball is not a contact sport, the batter is liable if his conduct was simply negligent.  The Court determined that softball was a contact sport, so that its players should be on notice that such type of danger is inherent, unless the danger was created by reckless conduct, which would place liability on the acting party. 

The Court then considered an affidavit from Ed Servais, the Creighton University head baseball coach.  Mr. Servais noted that a right handed hitter who fouls a ball down the left field line should not, under normal circumstances, ever release his bat down the right field line.  The Court found this to raise an issue of recklessness that was appropriate to take the case to a jury.

Another interesting story at the intersection of sports and the law.  Stay tuned to see how this case turns out when it goes to trial. 

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Unauthorized Overtime

Posted on October 8, 2010 by Liz Overton

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires employers to pay non-exempt employees at least time and one-half for all time worked in excess of forty hours in a week. An employer that knows or should have known that an employee worked overtime while off the clock may be subject to lawsuits by employees and/or investigations by Iowa Workforce Development or the Department of Labor. While management has the right to insist that overtime hours be approved in advance, workers also have the right to be paid for all overtime worked, even if that overtime was not preapproved. 

Supervisors should be instructed to approve timecards that include overtime, even if such overtime was not preapproved. Employees should be informed that even if they did not secure approval prior to working the overtime, it must be reported. Employers may make the failure to pursue or obtain preapproval a disciplinary matter; however withholding the overtime compensation is an unlawful form of discipline. It is important that your overtime policy reflect this information.

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